June 13, 2015

This past weekend TC and I celebrated 5 years of marriage (whoot whoot!) by taking a long weekend trip out to Las Vegas! It was our first time being away from Jensen and while it was nice to have some baby-free time, I sure was glad to get home and snuggle with her! We are thankful TC's parents were available to take a trip out to our place and be on baby duty for us! Here are a few (ok, a few too many) photos of our desert excursion! :)

We arrived on Friday and after picking up our sweet, convertible rental car we drove out to Death Valley in California. It was so neat to stand down in Badwater Basin - the lowest point in the continental US and then drive up to Dante's View which offers a 360 degree view of the basin and surrounding mountains. There was a 30 degree temperature difference between Dante's View and Badwater Basin. Our ears were also experiencing a lot of popping due to the crazy altitude changes!

We checked out Downtown Las Vegas and Freemont St on Saturday afternoon then walked around the Strip that evening. The Stratosphere was the hotel that we stayed in and the observation deck at the top offered a beautiful view of the city!

While walking the strip we also went to The Bellagio Hotel and Casino to check out their Conservatory and Botanical Gardens and watch the fountains in front of the hotel. The fountains are choreographed to music and turn on every 15 minutes- each time to a different song. It was a beautiful (and free!) display!

On Sunday we took a day trip out to Red Rock Canyon which is just several miles outside of Las Vegas. We drove the scenic loop and stopped often to take pictures! There were a lot of hiking trails, but we weren't prepared for that so we just enjoyed the beautiful views!

Sunday evening we toured the Neon Museum in downtown Las Vegas which is a non-profit museum that displays and restores old Las Vegas signs. It was so interesting to learn the history behind various signs and they were really neat to look at!

Monday before heading to the airport we stopped at Ethel M's Chocolate Factory and Cactus Garden. All weekend long I had been wanting to get my picture taken with a huge Saguaro cactus and I finally got my chance! We also left with some chocolate treats for the plane ride home - my favorite was the Mint Dark Chocolate! Now that we're back in Texas, the humid hot weather seems strange compared to the dry, desert heat! :)